DSpace at VNU: Industrial transformation and shrimp aquaculture in Thailand and Vietnam: Pathways to ecological, social, and economic sustainability?

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Industrial Transformation and Shrimp Aquaculture in Thailand and Vietnam: Pathways to Ecological, Social, and Economic Sustainability? Author(s): Louis Lebel, Nguyen Hoang Tri, Amnuay Saengnoree, Suparb Pasong, Urasa Buatama and Le Kim Thoa Source: Ambio, Vol 31, No 4, Population, Consumption, Environment (Jun., 2002), pp 311323 Published by: Springer on behalf of Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4315258 Accessed: 22/06/2014 20:27 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org Springer and Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Ambio http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 185.2.32.185 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 20:27:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Louis Lebel, Nguyen Hoang Tri, Amnuay Saengnoree, Suparb Pasong, Urasa Buatama and Le Kim Thoa Transformation Industrial Aquaculture and Shrimp in Thailand Vietnam: and to Ecological, Pathways Economic and Social, nabiIity? Sustai E I W E | l l I :~~~~~~~~~~~~~ :f SI _.: ll .% * l | I M|| I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shrimp aquaculture in Vietnam is in the process of being transformed into a major industry around the intensification of the production system The experiences of other countries in the region, especially in Thailand where high input production systems dominate, suggests that now is a critical time for intervention to redirect industry into pathways that are more sustainable ecologically, socially, and economically In Thailand, years of experience with intensified systems and a complex industrial organization has not led to sustainable solutions The challenge here is for society to regain control and then to redirect the transformation along more efficient and benign pathways Our analyses suggest that current pathways in both countries are unlikely to lead to a sustainable industry A complete transformation of the way shrimp are grown, fed, processed, distributed, and regulated is needed 1,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I sk I Ii_ I i: AmbioVol.31 No 4, June2002 R S _~~~~~~~~I ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ S Are of ; I ,., F W The expansion and transformationof shrimp aquaculture in SoutheastAsia has occurredin the context of rapid industrialization Between 1970 and 1993 the contributionby industryto the Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN) regional GrossDomestic Product(GDP) increasedfrom 25%to 40%, and industrialoutputincreased25 times duringthe same period Energy and pollution intensities (per unit of economic activity) of most countriesremaincomparativelyhigh comparedto Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries,especially in the centrallyplannedeconomies like Vietnam (1) Thailandwith its much larger economy and industrialsectorsalreadyhas a historyof air and waterpollutionproblems As rapidas industrializationhas been, the base remainscomparativelysmall Most of the investment in industrializationof SoutheastAsia is still to come, and much of this will happenin coastal zones where urbanizationalso is a major process With improved energy efficiency and material recycling, individual businesses and perhapseven sectors can reduce their burdenon the environment.However, continuing expansion of economic and industrialactivity in most countriesin the region for at least the next several decades will mean that the cumulative effects on uses of energy, materials,and naturalresources,and burdens on the waste-assimilationcapacities of local and regional ecosystems, will continue to grow A profound transformationin the way industryis developed, especially in coastal zones and along waterways,is required.The focus has to shift from abatement and "end-of-the-pipe"solutions to prevention, by focusing on reducing pollution and resource-use intensities, and finally towardnew visions of society and its supportingsystems or an "IndustrialTransformation"(2) So far little attentionin SoutheastAsia has been paid to what such a transformationtowardsustainabilitywould entail for food , I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AI1o^ TRANSFORMATION INDUSTRIAL f ; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I s a _woX~~Tblm mo1 , I f dtail| h.gIaiuh K ChUms~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ as1I systems This requiresunderstandingof production-consumption the environmentalconsequencesof activities and linkages along the commoditychain from farmers,throughagri-businessesand food industries,to consumers, as well as considerationof the networks of input and service suppliers The most problematic of these are likely to be high-value export-orientedcommodities thatdependon naturalresourcesand ecosystem services like shrimpaquaculture.Changes in productionand organizationof the shrimp industry have been very rapid with the growth of aquaculture.In a matterofjust two decades or less systems have moved, in some places, from otherland-usesor cooperativeharvesting of mangrovesand wetlands to being a partof a fully integrated industry more akin to manufacturingthan traditional agricultureor capturefisheries The industrializationof aquaculturehas spread fairly easily among countries in Asia despite different economic and political structures and development histories Industrial shrimp aquaculturefirst startedand then collapsed in Taiwan (3), and from thereit spreadto othercountries.Extensiveproductionsystems in Thailandare recordedfrom as early as 1957 in Nakhonsi-tammarat(4) But the industryonly really began to intensify in the mid-1980s, when productionfrom aquaculturestartedto increase rapidly (Fig 1a) following the spread of successful hatcheries.The changes were facilitatedby governmentpolicies on export-orientedagriculture.For example,the largeThaimultinational Charoen Popkhand (CP) Group was active early, in 1986, forming a joint venture with Japanese giant company C RoyalSwedishAcademyof Sciences2002 http://www.ambio.kva.se This content downloaded from 185.2.32.185 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 20:27:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 311 Mitsubishiand employing experiencedTaiwanesetechniciansin settingup CP Aquaculture(5) The companyalso has a long experience and large investmentsin feed mills that easily were redirectedtowardaquacultureinputs Changesto the productionsystems in Vietnamcame later,and have been slow to spread Much of the growth in overall production can be attributedto expansion ratherthan intensification until the mid-1990s (Fig lb) Extensive systems began to be used in the Mekong Delta soon after the end of the war with the USA (6), but it was not until the late 1980s, with development of a hatcheryindustryin Nha Trang,KhanhHoa province, that intensified productionsystems could be developed Today, a wide variety of systems are used in differentregions of Vietnam, whereas in Thailandproductionmethods are much more uniform Marketingchannels, organizationof labor and corporations, roles played by the state, and many other factors also differ within and among countries In this paperthe centralquestion we addressis: How can the industrialtransformationof shrimp aquaculturebe directed in ways that are more ecologically, economically and socially sustainable? Our approachis to compare the well-established industryin Thailandwith the new but rapidly developing industryin Vietnam, recognizingthatboth are linkedclosely to marketsand consumer behavior elsewhere Industrialtransformationinvolves many processes apart from the techniques of managing the growth of shrimpin ponds To assist with comparisonswe have developed a general conceptualframeworkto describe how the effects of consumptionand populationprocesses on the environment and livelihoods are modified by a set of complex intervening structuresand process (Fig 2) The way industryis organ- ~~~* I' Intensiveshrimpponds, NhaTrang,Vietnam.Photo:L Lebel ized, the technology, knowledge and informationit promotes, and the way marketsdevelop, each have implicationsfor the environmentand livelihoods Many of these are furthermediated throughpolitics that can change both the formalinstitutionsand those that are actually in use Finally, two potential feedback loops are highlighted in this framework.The first is a feedback on populationthrough effects on livelihoods; for example, the accumulationof assets and entitlements,and how these might stimulate further migration The second is on consumption through effects on the environment,which acknowledges that consumerawarenessaboutenvironmentaldegradationcaused in the productionof a luxury commodity could alter their preferences, and thus change futureconsumptiondemand METHODS The findingsreportedhere arebased on field observations,quantitative and in-depthinterviews,and analysis of secondarydata Figure Growth of the shrimp aqaculture industry in Thailand (a) and We conducteda detailed randomsurvey of 827 shrimpfarmVietnam (b) Production of shrimp in tonnes from aqaculture and capture fisheries are shown as solid bars, and the area under ers in regions:northernVietnam (n = 99; QuangNinh); southcultivation by a dashed line (Based on Thai Department of Fisheries, ern Vietnam (n = 303; Ca Mau, Bac Lieu); central Vietnam (n FAO FishStats (2000), and (8) = 121; Khanh Hoa); eastern peninsular Thailand (n = 239; soo so SuratThani, Songkla);and western ThaiNakhon-sri-tammarat, Thailand ~~~a) land (n = 65; Krabiand Trang).The surveyswere conducteddur0 ing roughly one week in each region between September and -7 1December 2000, except for Khanh Hoa, which was in August so I c 2001 Most interviewswere with the pond owners (90%), many 2W of whom were also day-to-daymanagers,and the rest were with ~~~~~~~~50a a knowledgeable pond manager (8.5%) or a senior worker (1.5%) The detailed questionnairecovered: farmers' personal eodre mdeta shimpaes.Osrations and in-depthinterviews, wn nlsso features and household socioeconomic characteristics; general of the shrimp farn and its management;productioncosts and 100,~~~~~~~~~~ timestheroughoutnthe(researcperiod from)appoxihatsva5reious: 20 and environmentalknowledge, attitudes,and practices yields; ) cnrlitnm( maelyMitay 2000 n to DcMber 2001 We also made extensive use of in-depthinterviewtechniques 110 to obtain infonnation from other parts of the consumption-production system, and to follow-up in more detail sensitive prop0o on- 52utddr ahCosumptiwee Popuatioand EfeTsring) landirect65 noted or with farners and political issues 20 109 1965 Altogether, 1995 erty 1975 1970 etmen doinate einbewe nec using Soghystnemwe semistructured transcribed guides were in-depthinterviews 350 1so made in Vietnam,42 in Thailand,and one in Japanwith a manb)VietNam C- ure ager of a tradingcompany Interviews were made with a wide - Capture 300 of maninformants:farmers,traders,isverdominatmeds byron-l devlpetaofinedquestrionaliqautre (.%.The input shop owners, range PDnd Area mmuni ty jaichas,d vilagters iovi nefe co aofficilts larms, / ~~~~250~ deofaphic changsumplayon-po sumptioinprfocesses.Neverothelearss 100~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0 312 ? Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2002 http://www.ambio.kva.se This content downloaded from 185.2.32.185 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 20:27:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Ambio Vol 31 No 4, June 2002 importantcontextualrole in most places, because of theireffects on availabilityof labor and land The expansionof humansettlements,tourism,and agricultural activities into coastal zones of Thailand and Vietnam has had development majoreffects on coastalland-useand infrastructure In turn, these processes have constrained and interacted with otherincentivesfor the spreadand intensificationof aquaculture We are far from completely understandingthese direct and indirecteffects but can pose and explore some initial hypotheses ; | -3R ; Migration and Employment -,l~ _-e~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One mechanism that could be envisaged is that rapid land-use changes and intensification bring about internal migration as Intensive rearing shrimp ponds, Trang Province, Thailand spontaneoussettlersmove in to take advantageof new opportu- Photo: L Lebel nities createdby shrimpaquaculture.Evidence from our current study suggests that this process is not dominant In Thailand, shrimp plays a central role as a high-value commodity In the more than 70% of farmersat both sites were born in the village maturingagribusinessand food industriesthe emphasis is shiftwhere they had theirponds, and a further5% came thereas chil- ing to treating shrimp as a set of productsratherthan a single dren In northernand centralVietnam a bit more than half were primarycommodity The principlemarketsfor shrimpgrown in Vietnamand Thairesidents in place of birth, but in the south this was only onethird.In the south mean residence time of migrantshrimpfarm- land are the US, Japan,and EU The potential for much growth ers was 15 years, many having arrivedas part of re-settlement in these high-income marketsis limited The food distribution schemes for soldiers and their families after the end of the war systems are complex and highly developed, with hypermarkets, with the US Thus, many of the land-usechanges to aquaculture conveniencestores,and many options for take-homefood Highincome consumers demand convenience, are concerned with cannotbe attributeddirectlyto initial settlement If productionis successful early, the accumulationof assets quality, want food that is varied and interesting,nutritiousand and entitlementsfrom shrimp aquaculturemay act as a stimu- healthy, and increasinglydemandthat it is producedin environlus for furthermigrationof relatedand otherconnectedindividu- mentally and socially ethical ways (9) Such a response already als, through,for example, remittancesor the ability to provide is visible, for example, in Vietnam and Thailandfactories seekinitial support.Workby Adger and his colleagues have revealed ing InternationalOrganizationfor Standardization(ISO) certithe complexity of these interactions in northern Vietnam fication for their packaging, marketing,and company manageAquaculturedevelopment has increased the overall wealth of ment Consumerconcernaboutthe environmentalconsequencesand coastal communitiesbut also has increased inequities (7) The poorer households respond to rising land costs and other pres- personalhealthrisks of consumingfarm-raisedshrimphas grown sures by seasonal migrationto urbanand other ruralareas and since 1986, when MuraiYoshinoripublishedhis influentialbook send back remittancesto the family members who remain In in Japaneseon the effects of consumptionon coastal environour surveys in Thailandwe observed asset accumulationand in- ments in Southeast Asia In the future, consumer behavior is creasing wealth, but have not yet gatheredsufficiently detailed likely to play an increasinglyimportantrole in directingchanges historicalevidence to assess the effects on migration As the industrydevelops and productionintensifies, thereis a growthof secondaryindustries,for Figure Conceptual framework for the relationship among consumption, example, for feeds, water/aerationsystems, and population, and the environment for a luxury commodity such as shrimp Not all the possible Influences between intervening variables in the central box are shown, landscaping services These provide alternative, but only those Important for the analysis In this paper are highlighted sometimes seasonal, employment opportunities that could attract migrants or at least slow outmigrationto urbancenters Shrimpcultivation itself has low labor requirements compared to paddy rice farming Oursurveysreportedhere cannotreallytest this, but detailed secondarydata on populationmovements and the size of the workforce employed in the industryprovides an idea of the magnitudeof potentialeffects The Thai Departmentof Fisheries estimatedthat in 1994 the industryemployed _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ca 97 000 people directly and 53 000 indirectly ' I In Vietnam,the numberof jobs createdby the industry was estimated at around 277 000 in 1991 and rose to 550 000 in 1998 (8) Most positions in processing factories in both Thailandand Vietnam are given to young, unmarriedwomen ;0 80%) of land-ownership by shrimppond managersand owners in all sites Land rentalwas most common in sites with intensifiedproductionsystems: 16%in east and westernpeninsularThailand,and 10%in centralVietnam, comparedwith 4% in northernVietnam and < 1% in southernVietnam However, much more in-depth work is needed to frillyexplore patternsof ownershipand investment in both Thailand and Vietnam For example, some farmersin Thailand told us how they had investments in many ponds at different sites, using a mixture of their own and rented land Moreover,because of tax requirementsand regulations,the extent of these investmentsand defacto ownershipare unlikely to be revealed in a one-time only cross-sectionalsurvey Figure5 Comparisonof the structureof variablecosts for shrimp productionamong regions of Thailandand Vietnam.The other category includes pond preparation,maintenance,and other smaller items Laborincludes hiredand familylaboras a noncash cost Larve East Thailand _ Feed - Labor Energy _ West Thailand_* _ _ Central Vietnam_*_ * * 0.0 0.2 0.4 * _ _ _ 0.0 0.2 0.4 _ 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.0 0.2 0.4 Proportion of totalvariablecost 316 _ _ South Vietnam North Vietnam Other 0.0 0.2 0.4 Many of the observedchanges in corporateorganizationhave been closely relatedto technicalinnovationsin production,handling, distribution,and marketing.Now we will consider some of the key changes with environmentaland livelihood implications TECHNOLOGY The transformationof shrimpaquacultureinto a fully developed industryin Thailandand a nascentone in Vietnamhas a number of components dependent on key innovations and technology transfersat variousplaces along the commoditychain The best documentedchanges have been in the managementof grow-out ponds, and the developmentof hatcherytechniques Hatcheries In Vietnam,the criticalchange from extensive systems practiced since at least 1976 in Ca Mau was the beginning, in the late 1980s, of a hatcheryindustryin the Nha Trangdistrictof Khanh Hoa province The hatcheriesin Nha Trangcontinuedto dominate the industryin Vietnam for almost a decade, even though the main shrimp grow ponds are hundredsof kilometres away in Ca Mauand neighboringprovincesin the MekongDelta Only in the past few years have hatcherieswithin the delta become common The low quality of hatchery-rearedpost-larvaetiger prawn P monodon, however, has remaineda major constraint on intensificationof shrimp aquaculturein the Mekong Delta The areas in Nha Trang previously used for extensive shrimp growing and intermediate nursery ponds (a step no longer needed)now have been convertedinto what is probablythe most intensifiedshrimpgrowing landscapein Vietnam In part,these transformationscan be attributedto the presence of an active Universityof Fisheries,and more recently,a numberof government aquacultureandfisheriesresearchanddevelopmentcenters, which organize trainingcourses and provide consultationservices for hatcheryowners Intensification The industrializationof shrimp aquaculturereduces the diversity of pond management systems to the designs of feed and chemical manufacturers.These replace the diversity in local practicesfound in extensive and semi-intensivepolyculturesystems In our surveys in 2000 and 2001, we found that all farms in westernand easternpeninsularThailandand centralVietnam had adoptedintensified systems, whereas those in northernand southernVietnam continue to practice a variety of semi-intensive systems (Table 1) In extensive and semi-intensivepolyculturesystems, wateris exchanged as partof the tidal cycle, and this inflow also brings in the stock and naturalfeed Twice a monthduringthe low part of the big tides, harvestsof a range of shrimpspecies and other organisms are done as water exits the impoundment.In northern Vietnam, some farmersalso stock crabs and seaweed either simultaneously or alternatively with prawns Pond sizes and overall holdings in the north are very much larger than in the south.Today,the vast majorityof farmersin northernand southern Vietnam also are stocking at low rates with tiger prawns Because of low stocking and feeding rates they are able to harvest few, but very large and high value shrimp The more extensive systems allow shrimpfarmownersto have otheremployment, such as rice growing In some parts of the Mekong Delta mixed mangrove-shrimp and shrimp-riceculturesystems arebeing tried(17) Mixed mangrove-shrimpsystems were establishedin state forestry-fishery enterprisesto try to reduce deforestationand at the same time help alleviate poverty Unfortunately,shrimpyields from these systems in Ca Mau provincehave been declining, and in 19961997 average annual yields were a low 286 kg ha-' yr l (18) C Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2002 http://www.ambio.kva.se This content downloaded from 185.2.32.185 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 20:27:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Ambio Vol 31 No 4, June2002 This studyattributedthe problemsto a combinationof poor wild seed recruitment(19), poor pond design, inappropriatemanagement techniques, and reliance on small low-value culture species Furthermore,losses of shrimp seed duringharvestingfurther reduced effective stocking densities throughtide action to a low of 0.15 post-larvaem-2.Securinga reliablesupplyof more valuabletiger prawnpost-larvaehas been a majorconstrainton intensificationin the Mekong Delta On average stocking rates in centralVietnam were half those used in Thailand, and as a consequence survival rates were higher but yields per crop lower (Table 1) A handful of farms in the south were attemptingmore intensified productionmethods A few farms in east and western peninsularThailandand southernVietnam were using extremely high stocking rates of up to 150 post-larvaem-2 Fully intensifiedsystems involve high levels of initial stocking, usually with the tiger prawn P monodon,complex and changingfeeding regimes as the prawns grow, chemical treatmentof water, addition of antibiotics, and aeration(20) In the past growers attemptedto improve yields throughfertilizerinputsto stimulateplanktongrowthandby adding trashfish or even animal carcasses Some of these practices still arefollowed in Vietnam,thoughmost growersnow use commercially preparedfeeds In addition to purposefullyusing antibiotics, many feeds now are medicated with the antibioticoxytetracycline.A concernis thatthese indiscriminatepracticesare likely to lead to disease resistance Total costs of productionare much higher in the intensified systems, but profits and costs per kg of shrimpwere lower The structureof costs varied by rearingsystems and location Feed costs were the largest fraction in centralVietnam (51%), western peninsularThailand(36%), and easternpeninsularThailand (33%), whereas larval costs were the largest in northernVietnam (28%) and southernVietnam (39%) In northernVietnam, where pond sizes are very large, pond preparationand maintenance costs contributeda much largerfractionthan elsewhere The effects on productionof the intensificationtrendin Thailand can be seen in the greatly increased yields per unit area (compareratiosof areaand productioncurves in Fig la) In Vietnam,as in most othercountriesin SoutheastAsia, overall production yields generally have been much lower as many farms still use only semi-intensive systems (Fig lb) The intention of many of these farmers,however, was to furtherintensify their productionsystems: in northernVietnam (90%), southernVietnam (52%), centralVietnam(45%), easternpeninsularThailand (34%) and westernpeninsularThailand(26%) Crop Failure and Disease The potential for high and quick returnson investmentsmakes the shrimpaquacultureindustryvery attractiveto nationalleaders, internationaldevelopment agencies, and private sector en- trepreneurs.Production,however, is very unstable In our surveys, 74% of farmersoverall had experienceda majorcrop failure Disease is probablythe single most importantfactor limiting productionin the industry.Fluctuationsin marketprices also may contributeto boom and bust patterns.Price increases following disease outbreaksattractnew producersto try their luck In Nha Trang, farmersindicated that land prices rose dramatically between the end of 2000 and the middle of 2001 as a result of changes in shrimpprices In Thailand,abandonmentof ponds after a few years because of disease or declining productivity is common (21), but these ponds sometimes are reused when prices are high again Most of the majorchanges in hatcheriesand farms in the past decade have been directed at reducingthe risks of disease devastating stock (22) Thus, there have been trends to reduce water exchange and reduce the use of trash fish More recently, in Thailandthere also has been a much wider adoptionof pre-testing of larvae using genetic techniques before stocking ponds Finally, farmershave begun moving inland and rearing shrimp for most of the cycle in much fresherwater as a way of avoiding pollutionand disease problemsfrom neighbors.In Thailand, a recent innovation has been the development of low salinity rearingtechniques dependenton hatcheriesacclimatizing postlarvae to progressively lower salinities This effectively has removed a key constraintto the expansion of the industryinto inland delta, floodplain, and riparianareas (23) SYSTEMS AND INFORMATION KNOWLEDGE Research and Local Knowledge In both countries,majortechnical hurdles still exist Hatcheries still are dependenton the collection of gravid females from the ocean, diseases and water quality problems are proving hardto overcome in practice,and there still is a need to reduce dependence on wild capturefish in feed Little effort has been made to systematically adapttechnologies to better meet local environmentaland culturalsettingsby makingbetteruse of local knowledge and the potentialsof informationtechnology Sound technical knowledge of production and processing methods is essential to the industry'sdevelopment.The private sector in Thailandhas played a much largerrole in researchand developmentthan in Vietnam, in partbecause many of the major input supply companies are based in Thailand.Researchby state supporteduniversities and fisheries research centers also are importantin both countries.However, most new knowledge is being generatedto benefit corporatestrategiesratherthan sustain local livelihoods.At the same time the expansionof aquaculture,throughhabitatconversionand changes in livelihoods, also has undoubtedlydisplaced local knowledge about use of mangroves and coastal, riparianwetlands Education and Information Sources ; * " ;~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ s " ' * ;' : : d :.i ':, ': ;; It often was assertedby the govern4~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ment officials we met that low levels of educationand lack of experi0.52 2':'':'.1 0.70 0* Me* poniee (ha) ence are key constraints to the ":": :1X3 2.5 1.3 0.01 23.7 Mean~tarea of pon4s-ha 5.::0 -:-: : 4X : 2:8.7 "Mean r.:fd:::) 3*7 adoption of improved rearing and 25 Men fst% MGM to 76 ft ; :56: hatchery methods The education > , , ' :;;:, , :.:: ,, ;' ' '; ' "; 14 ." *eroentiniifls n levels of shrimp farmers varied widely, as measuredby the percent~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ age completing primaryschool: in westernpeninsularThailand(54%), southern Vietnam (58%), eastern peninsular Thailand (72%), northern Vietnam (90%), and centralVietnam (93%) In central Vietnam (54%) more than half the farmers t t s < a ; ; ; a ; ' ! :; 312:' Ambio Vol 31 No 4, June2002 :- ; ,ier C Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2002 http://www.ambio.kva.se This content downloaded from 185.2.32.185 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 20:27:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 317 had completed a secondary degree or higher, and in northern Vietnam (39%) and eastern peninsularThailand (39%) levels also were high Moreover,in all areas except northernVietnam (mean of years), farmershad an averageof more than years' experience as shrimp farmers,with the highest average being more than 10 in southernVietnam It is not accurateto characterize shrimpfarmersin Thailandor Vietnam as uneducatedor inexperienced Although educationand experience not differ in a consistent way between Thailandand Vietnam, sources of information about shrimpfarmingdo Farmersin east and western peninsular Thailand get informationfrom multiple sources, including friendsand relatives, governmentextension officers, magazines and books, TV and radio,growersassociations,productdistributors, and trainingcourses On average they used 4.3 sources in comparisonto 3.8 in centralVietnam, 3.0 in northernVietnam, and only 2.2 in southernVietnam In part, this reflects the differences in informationneeds, and lack of governmentsupport for those practicing semi-intensive productionmethods In Ca Mau in southernVietnam, the lack of informationappearedto be particularlyacute.The only sourcesof informationinterviewees acknowledged at levels similar to those in the other areas were high reliance on friendsand relatives (ca 90%), and about half from television and radio This is a critical point because there currently is a rush to develop nurseries and intensified shrimpponds, but knowledge, equipment,and managementsystems have not yet "arrived."The mismatch in technology, industrialorganization,and knowledge systems will create environmentalproblems We analyzed the association between ever having had a crop failure with numberof sources of information,education,and a small set of other variablesusing logistic regression After adjustment for years of practiceand location, we found that farmers who obtainedinformationfrom more thantwo sources were almost half as likely to have had a crop failure (0.56, with 95% confidence interval for odds ratio: 0.36-0.88) In contrast,levels of education,stocking rates, and pre-treatmentof waterwere not significantly associated with the risk of having a crop failure Access to informationis important Finally, anotherimportantchange has been the rapidincrease in availabilityof mobile phone services These now are widely used to link together marketchains Thus, fishing boats at sea contact intermediatetraderswith small fast boats when a gravid female has been captured,and then these traders,in turn, call aroundfor offers from hatcheryowners Internet-basedinformation systems on shrimpand their tradenow are being explored POLITICS Role of the State Industrializationof aquaculturehas been facilitatedby changes in political structuresand processes For the most partthe state in Thailandand Vietnam has served the interests of large corporations, such as feed and chemical suppliers and processing companies,ratherthanthe needs of ruralcommunities.The bias in aquacultureresearchand developmentand extension services has been toward shrimp as a high-value export crop requiring high levels of inputs, and not on aquacultureof fish suitable for domestic consumptionor to improve livelihoods of the poorest The short aim has been to expand and industrializeshrimp aquacultureas rapidly as possible to earn much needed foreign exchange After the economic crisis in 1997, the Thai Department of Fisheriesvowed thatthe shrimpindustrywould help the recovery.In 2001, the Vietnamesegovernmentannouncedits 10yr shrimp aquaculturedevelopmentplan, which involved conversion of 60 000 of coastal and paddy land in 23 provinces The export-orientedpolicy of the Thai governmentmade it possible for the industryto develop quickly, whereas many for318 eign marketsand investmentsourceswere closed for almosttwo decades to Vietnam as a consequence of US foreign policy after the war In both Thailandand Vietnam, centralizedplanning has resulted in policies on zoning to protect the environment;on extensionand diseasemanagementto supportproducers;or to regulate control of industryby suppliers.The view of shrimpfarmers in Thailandof the state's role in aquaculturedevelopmentis very negative,with 83%in westernpeninsularThailandand 88% in easternpeninsularThailandstatingthatpast supportfromgovernmentwas poor or very poor, comparedwith 30% in northern Vietnam, 36% in southernVietnam and 51% in centralVietnam Farmersgenerally are most critical about land-use, environmental,and agriculturalcredit polices, althoughin central Vietnamthere also was concernaboutcontrolof shrimpprices Resistance and Social Movements The state has not had a monopoly of power over the directions the shrimpaquacultureindustryhas taken In Thailand,corporateinterestshave been dominant,and apartfrom some early facilitation,the state has for the most partbeen playing catch-up In Vietnam,decades of centralplanninghave eliminatedmost alternativepolitical voices to challenge the state Environmental and developmentNGOs are relatively undeveloped, and so far have had little influence on the expansion and intensification of shrimpaquaculture.Communestructuresand normspersist however, and these could facilitate strong local institutions to tackle, for example, water management and infrastructure problems, and to implement zoning schemes Grower associations are growing in importancein Thailand,but are still virtually nonexistentin Vietnam.These are importantin helpingsmall producersresist complete control of the industry within their country from feed and other input corporations.One example of apparentlysuccessful resistance is a local growers association in southernThailand,which has developed its own feed at a fractionof the costs of widely used commercialbrands Land-use Conflicts In both Thailandand Vietnam most examples of serious resistance to expansion or intensification of shrimp aquaculture hatcheryor pond operationshas come from local communities concernedwith land-usechanges or disruptionof access or condition of land and waterresources In most cases, however, the involvement of local elites in the industry, and the real benefits obtained by some local landholders,has meantthat local resistanceoften has been small and easily swept aside (24) In addition,the perceptionon the ground, especially in Thailand,is that on privately-ownedland, farmers can as they please Thus,centrallydecreedzoning regulations and areabans often have had no effect on actualpractices.It is possible, however, that new zoning and practice rules for aquaculturemay become more successful when local communities are active in designing and enforcingthem (25) Conflicts between shrimpand paddy rice farmershave been acute in the Pak PhanangBasin, in Nakhon-sri-tammarat province in southernThailand.Farmershave been concerned with the effects of salinity intrusionfrom shrimpfarmingoperations on their yields The effects on poor rice-growingfamilies have been exacerbatedby problemswith declining productivity(due to other reasons) in what once was one of the most productive rice-growing areas in Thailand(26) One consequence of these environmentalchanges has been periodsof net outmigrationand overallrelativelylow populationgrowth.Altogether,abandoned agriculturalland makes up 10%of the land area Shrimpfarming is very common along the coast, and up to 70 km inland in areas borderingthe Pak PhanangRiver In 1997, approximately half the shrimp ponds were abandoned,but many have again been re-used in 2000 During 1999 a large tide barrier,partof a ? Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2002 http://www.ambio.kva.se This content downloaded from 185.2.32.185 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 20:27:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Ambio Vol 31 No 4, June2002 major Royal Development Project, became operationalon the riverwith the intendedeffect of segregatingactivities of shrimp farmersfrom those of otheragriculturalistsdependenton fresher waters.Governmentagencies also have programspromotingconversion of abandonedshrimpareasinlandinto orchardsand fish farms To what extent the engineering and technical solutions will change land-usepracticesremainsto be seen, as elsewhere shrimpfarmershave been shown to be quite adept at culturing shrimpin low salinity systems A more recentand intensepoliticalconflict has arisenbetween inland shrimp farmersand the orchardistsand rice growers in the centralplains of Thailand,the traditional"rice-bowl"of the nation (27) As a result of media coverage, the National EnvironmentBoard recommendedin June 1998 a complete ban on shrimpfarmingin freshwaterareasof 10 centralplain provinces underthe pollution control zone legislation of the Environmental ProtectionAct Shrimpfarmerslater successfully protested against the ban, claiming that the activity was promotedby the Departmentof Fisheries A numberof pro-industryagencies in governmentand CP in the private sector took the position that so-called closed systems with no discharge of untreated wastewatershouldbe allowed The NationalEnvironmentBoard rejectedthe argument,and the ban went into effect 120 days later to allow farmers to harvest their last crops As in the case in southernThailand,most of the concerns were about the potential for salt intrusioninto rice growing areas.The potentialcompetition for fresh water, which might be an even more serious issue, was not considered Despite the regulations, most commentatorsexpect circumventionbecause of the inability to enforce and regulatethe ban, so the conflict continues Given the expansion in two historicallyimportantrice growing areas in Thailand,along the Pak PhanangRiver in southern Thailandand more recently in the central plains, the potential for similar expansion into the majorrice-growing deltas of Vietnamshouldnot be underestimated.At least in coastalareasthis transition is being supportedby formal government policy to change low productiverice farmsto shrimpponds In Thailand,social conflict also is apparentat a broaderscale The industryhas recognizedthataquacultureis underthreatfrom adversepublicity-as a result of poor practicesin some areasand now is actively mountingits own counter-advertising.Some of this is damage control, but quickly has moved toward more sophisticated marketing strategies to attractenvironment-and health-consciousconsumers.Internationaldevelopmentagencies, fisheries departments,and aquaculture-dependentresearch organizations also have been quick to argue the promises of new technologies and improvedprogramsthat will encouragemore sustainablepractices In our fieldwork in Vietnam, we have heardoverwhelmingly positive assessmentsaboutthe social developmentconsequences of the industry Conflicts arise about pond boundariesand watermanagementin landscapesdominatedby shrimp,but overall these are local and mostly among shrimpfarmersthemselves or among state enterprises,military operations,and local communities.Governmentofficials largely are awareof the conflicts thathave occurredin Thailand,but remainconfidentin theirability to control land-use The history of experiences in Thailand, however, suggests that the economic incentives and structures of power in local communities will make land-use control by centralstateagencies difficult.As landscapesbecome filled with intensified system ponds, and then startto push fartherinland, more serious conflicts among different land-use and water use groups will arise Institutional Lags While technology, knowledge systems, and marketinstitutions affecting shrimpaquaculturehave changed rapidly in Thailand and Vietnam,the institutionsthatare supposedto governthe use of naturalresources, including water, land, and mangrove and other wetland ecosystems, hardly have had time to adjust.National legislation simply has not kept pace with the rapiddevelopmentof this sector One of the favoredand quickerrouteshas been to add new regulationswithin existing frameworks(such as in relation to inland capture fisheries) In Vietnam, for example, the Ministry of Fisheries has overall responsibility,but provincial and district governmentsare responsible for the actual planning and monitoringof aquaculturedevelopment(29) In 1995, there was no national system of registrationor licensing of aquaculturefarms,no controlof effluents,no requirements for environmentalimpactassessment,and no controlson the use of hazardous substances/pharmaceuticals WHO BENEFITS? In Thailand,it commonly is perceived that local elites, some of whom are "investors,"get many of the benefits, whereas the longer-termenvironmentaland social costs are borne by disad- Property Rights Key changes associated with industrializationare those in the structureand natureof propertyrights systems One of the most importantsocial consequences of the establishmentof shrimp Ambio Vol 31 No 4, June2002 vantaged groups In other words, shrimp industry expansion tends to build on existing inequalities Governmentoften has been instrumentalin facilitatingland acquisition,and providing tax, credit, and import/exportincentives Although foreign investment usually does not involve ownership of land or direct control of farming in Thailandor Vietnam, the links may neverthelessbe strong,particularlyin manufacturing,feed, and servicing, and in processing and marketing.The distributionof benefits from industrydevelopmentis an importantissue that still has not been well-addressedby independentresearch The perceptionof producersin all locationsin our surveyswas that many agents are benefiting, especially those directly involved, such as traders/brokers,feed and equipmentsuppliers, hatcheryowners, and producersthemselves In Thailand,about half the farmers felt that local governmentofficials also were major beneficiaries, whereas very few in Vietnam thoughtthis to be the case A common perceptionamong those involved in the industry, apartfromthe producersand governmentofficials, was that successful farmingwas deserved:"smarterentrepreneursget richer and deserve to so" (28) In Thailand,it is common to admire successful entrepreneursfor their ability to beat the system-to by-passzoning laws, avoid taxes, win land disputeswith the Forest Department,and so on Manyof the importantpolitical structures and processes influencing the development of shrimp aquaculturehave helped drive changes in resource institutions in ways that have facilitatedindustrialization INSTITUTIONS Surveillance, Regulation, and Zoning One outcomeof corporatedominanceof shrimpaquaculturepolitics in Thailandis that argumentsfor self-regulationhave been supportedlargely by the state Attemptsto bring in stricterlegislation or bans, or actually to implementrules or decrees once they have been made into law, often have been overturnedby protests from industry.In Vietnam, the role of corporationsappears to be much smaller, but the economic incentives to producers have been large Moreover,producersin most sites we studied,with the exception of northernVietnam (74%), largely were unawareof the need for permitsto carryout shrimpfarming (e.g only 10% in easternpeninsularThailand).The role of corruptionby public officials regardingacquisitionof landrights for shrimp farminghas been mentioned in in-depth interviews in both countriesand deserves more carefulstudy C Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2002 http://www.ambio.kva.se This content downloaded from 185.2.32.185 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 20:27:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 19 aquaculturein mangroves is that customaryusers of the mangrove are displaced They face the double disadvantageof losing access to mangroveproducts,and to declines in fisheries associated with mangroves (30) Loss of access occurs easily because customary use rights are not recognized legally by the state Obtainingpermitsfor land-userequiresgood political contacts In Vietnam,the conversionof mangrovesfrom commonproperty into private and state propertyhas acceleratedthe decline of mangroves.Landreclaimshave acceleratedhumansettlements in coastal areas, which leads to overuse of coastal resources Accordingto Adger et al (31), privatizationand state-subsidized use of mangrovesnot only are ecologically destructive,but also entail economic inequalityamong various resourceusers Conversion of mangrove forests in Vietnam was made possible by changing common propertyrights to state propertyand defacto privateproperty,which is contractedout to individualsfor periods of to 30 years In Thailandand Vietnam, traditionaluses of mangroves are disruptedby the constructionof aquaculture ponds, which effectively replace the multi-use, multi-user resource with a single owner, single purposeresource(32) In our study,virtuallyall the ponds surveyedin Vietnamwere individually"owned"and managed,but often with special lease arrangementswith state enterprises.In southernThailand, we found that in more than 80% of farmsthe manageralso was the owner This contrastswith a more local, but detailed 1992 survey in the Ranot districtof Songkla Province, which found that 42% of farmswere corporate-owned,19%were contract-related, andjust 39% were privateenterprises(33) The previous sections of this paperdemonstratethat industrializationof shrimpaquacultureinvolves changes in many structures and processes The next two sections attemptto integrate the analyses presented so far to assess the implications for sustainability ENVIRONMENT Mangrove and Wetland Conversion The development of the shrimp aquacultureindustryhas been an importantprocess driving changes in coastal land-use:both directlythroughthe conversionof mangroves,otherwetlandecosystems, and the secondaryconversionof paddy rice farms;and indirectly through stimulating local economies and infrastructure Various estimates suggest that conversion to aquaculture accountfor between20%to 50%of the mangroveareaconverted in Thailand in the period up to 1986 (34-36) However, none of the studies so far reportedhave providedcomprehensivedescriptionsof the spatialpatternsor pathwaysof conversionover time, or theirrelationshipwith infrastructure developmentor ecological constraintssuch as soils (37) Even overall statistics on areas differ widely between agency reportsand estimates of researchers, in part because many farms are not registered, and there can be complex patterns of use and abandonmentwhen prices fall or disease strikes In our surveys, 50% of farmersin southernVietnam, 66% in westernpeninsularThailand,and 60%in easternpeninsularThailand claimed thatthe land on which they now had shrimpponds had previously been used for rice In northernVietnam most were previously mangroveforest, whereas in centralVietnam a substantialfractionwere previously extensive shrimpponds or nurseryponds for young post-larvae.In Thailand,some shrimp ponds were developed in mangrove areas that previously had been harvested for charcoal production and already were degraded.Understandingthe pathwaysof conversionbetween different land-uses is importantpolitically, since many disputes aboutthe spreadof shrimpfarmingarisebecause of theiralleged effects on mangrovecover and conditions In Thailand,land selection for shrimp farming is moving away from matureman320 t grove areas as systems have become more intensified This is because mangroves, with their acidic soils and poor drainage, are not really thatwell suited to pond construction In the Mekong,land-useand cover changeshave resultedfrom a combinationof human settlementand infrastructuredevelopment, shrimpaquacultureexpansion,and demandsfor firewood and constructionpoles In northernVietnam,mangroveareasin 2001 still were being clearedfor shrimpfarms,while at the same time, sometimes even in the same area, large efforts also were being made to replantmangrovesto protect sea dikes and provide food and otherecosystem services for local communities Ecosystem Goods and Services The conversion of mangrovesinto shrimpponds has a number of effects on ecosystem goods and services, and biodiversity First,mangrovescan act as biofiltersto assimilatewaste andnutrients,but this functiononly can be effective if the relativearea of pondsto mangrovesremainslow Secondmangrovesare critical habitatfor capturefisheries and the shrimpultimatelyused to stock ponds Based on a Malaysian study, Naylor et al (38) estimatedthat the loss of one results in the loss of more than 100 kg of on-site fish biomass, and another600 kg of finfish and 600 kg of shrimpin coastal waters Based on typical yields in Thailand,this representsa reductionin fisheries biomass on the order of 400 g kg-' of farmed fish because of habitatconversion alone Using correlationsbetween catch per unit effort and mangrovecover data,de Graafand Xuan (39) estimatedthat one of mangrove reforest supportsa marine catch of about 450 kg yr- in the Mekong Delta They also found strong associations between total catch and mangroveareaafteradjustment for the captureeffort.Ronnbach(40) calculatedfor some regions in India that between 0.2 to 7.5 of mangrove were needed just to provide the gravid females necessary for hatcheryproduced larvae to supportintensive shrimpponds in the area By making various assumptions,the size of various estimates and their economic value can be made to vary by an orderof magnitude or more with differentstudies (41-43) The crucial conclusion remains,however, that the ecosystem services provided by mangrovesare numerous,large, and critical for capturefisheries and the long-term sustainabilityof the shrimpindustryitself Pollution Most reportednegative environmentaleffects of shrimp farming have been attributedto intensiveculturesystems Detriments include: nutrientand organic enrichmentpotentially leading to anoxic sediments; changes in benthic communities; and eutrophication,salinizationof freshwater,and pollutionfrom illegal pond sediment disposal and the growing use of a variety of chemical products(44, 45) In terms of humanwaste equivalents, Briggs and Funge-Smith(46) estimatedthatthe 40 000 of intensiveshrimpponds in Thailandin 1992 producedN-waste equivalentto 3.1 to 3.6 million people and P equivalentto 4.6 to 7.3 million people Taking into account the amount of dry sediments (16.2 mill t yr-1) and biological oxygen demand (35 000 t yr-&)this is clearlya very large contributionto the overall waste loading in the Thai coastal environment.In our surveys, shrimp farmersusing intensified systems in eastern and western peninsularThailandwere awarethat waste-waterfrom shrimpaquacultureposed a threatto local fisheries, but in centralVietnammuch fewer hadthis concern.In northernand southern Vietnam,where semi-intensivesystems predominate,almost all farmersfelt theirwater dischargeswere inconsequential From inland shrimp farms the water and soil pollution are likely to be more severe than from farms along the coast, due to the differencein volumes of wateravailablefor exchangeand dilutionof organic and salinity loadings (23) Moreover,the potentialfor effects on otherdownstreamusers,includingrice farm- Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2002 http://www.ambio.kva.se This content downloaded from 185.2.32.185 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 20:27:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Ambio Vol 31 No 4, June2002 ers and orchardists,is likely to be much higher.Freshwatercon- difficult to identify as a group for study, because they are not sumptionby inland shrimpponds is similarto that for irrigation involved and may have alreadybeen displaced Among those surveyed, 90% or more at all sites said that of rice fields (47) shrimp farming had helped improve their standardsof living Resource Inputs Many farmershad recently purchasedmajor assets For 96%, Althoughthe effects of shrimp-pondconstructionand operations overall shrimpfarmingwas more profitablethan their previous on the environmenthave attractedthe most attention,there also primaryoccupation Farmers,however, acknowledgedthat the are significantimplicationsof otherpartsof the commoditychain levels of risk were higher, especially in areas where intensified and supply network.Wild fish, as meal or oil, comprise 50% of productionsystems dominated.About one third of farmershad the compositionof shrimpfeeds (48) Naylor et al (38) estimated otherregularsources of income than shrimpfarming Access to credit and the ability to pay back loans were comthat2.8 kg of wild fish areneeded to produceeach kg of shrimp In the SoutheastAsia region harvestingwild fish for feed pro- parativelybigger issues in Vietnamthan in Thailand.In all three ductionreducedsuppliesof small pelagic fish, like mackereland areasof Vietnam aboutone third(32% to 29%) of farmerswere anchovy, that could be consumed by people in coastal commu- having difficulty paying back loans, comparedto only 12% to nities Harvestingof gravid female shrimp,and in Vietnam, of 15% in Thailand.In northernVietnam, almost 95% had taken post larvae seed, also could have significant consequences for loans, but of this 42% were from friendsor relatives Elsewhere other fish species if by-catches are large Finally, the energy re- approximatelyone half (40% to 57%) had obtainedloans, most quired for processing, storage, and distributionis likely to far frequentlyfrom banks or agriculturalcooperatives.Annual interest rates on loans varied substantially(group averages:0.4% exceed that used in farmproduction So far there have been no analyses of the full environmental to 7.5% per year) and in a complex way between locations and costs of producing shrimp Another issue of great importance types of lending institutions,with rates generally higher from to Vietnam is a more careful assessment of the environmental privatecredit sources costs and benefits of alternativetechnologies, especially semiintensive versus highly intensive systems Semi-intensive sys- Adaptive Capacity tems requiremuch more mangrove land to be disturbed,but if The maintenanceof local capacities to adapt to disease, price, done appropriatelymay be able to maintainmany of the eco- and other shocks in local communities are crucial to the system's functions Intensive systems on the otherhand require sustainabilityof the overall industry.This adaptive capacity is much less land to be converted They now are developed usu- found in both the ecological as well as social systems, and inally in nonmangroveareas, but the resources requiredto sup- dustrialre-organizationhas changedboth The specializationand dependenciesrequiredto participatein port them are large mainstreamindustrializedshrimp aquacultureby reducing the diversity of income sources reduces the adaptive capacity of LIVELIHOODS households However this effect can be offset by the ability to Sustainability purchaseassets and make other investmentswhen the producer A livelihood can be defined as the capabilities, assets or re- has been successful The risk of crop failure from disease outsources,entitlements,and activitiesrequiredfor living The live- breaks creates serious difficulties for small investors with poor lihoods of the poor in coastal zones and inland agriculturalar- access to credit.After one failure,many farmersdo not have sufeas often are dependentdirectlyon maintenanceof the local eco- ficient capital to recover Although in our survey sample, more system goods and services of wetlands and mangroves Rice than70%had experienceda crop failure,we must rememberthat fields and irrigationchannels themselves were observed to be the group of currentproducersis a biased sample of those who sources of food The expansion and intensification of shrimp have tried-they are the survivors.In the shrimpconsumptionaquaculturealreadyhas degradedand alteredmany of these eco- productionsystem suppliersand retailersare much more powlogical services, and threatensothers How have livelihoods of erful actorsthanthe producers,and are able to push for increases differentgroups of people been affected by the industrialization in costs of inputs as well as keeping down the farm gate prices of shrimp aquaculture?To what extent, and for how long, can for shrimp some of the immediate economic benefits of industrydevelopment offset or be used to substitutefor the losses in these ecoPATHWAYS logical services? How people cope with boom and bust pro- ALTERNATIVE duction swings as a result of disease outbreaks?These kinds of This paperhas arguedthatthe industrialrestructuringof shrimp questions are crucial to understandingwhat is requiredfor an aquaculturein Vietnam and Thailandhas involved a complex industrialtransformationtoward sustainability,with technical suite of changes in organization,technology,institutions,knowland organizationalefforts to reduce resourceuse and pollution edge and information systems, markets, and politics Shrimp A livelihood is consideredsustainablewhen it can cope with and aquaculturein Vietnam is on the verge of adoptingwholeheartrecover from stresses and shocks (i.e is resilient), and maintain edly the intensificationand industrializationmodel thatThailand or enhance its capabilities, assets and entitlementswithout un- has struggledwith for the past decade.We alreadyhave observed in centralVietnam, as in Thailandearlier,how the commitment derminingthe naturalresourcebase (49) resultsin entireregionallandscapeswith relaWhen asked directly whether they thought the shrimpaqua- to industrialization culture industrywould ever be sustainable,the almost 70% to tively uniformproductionmethodsand dependencyon high lev80% of farmersin our sites in Vietnam and Thailandsaid they els of inputs and services, and the assumptionsthat coastal and did not think so This perceptionof farmerscombines both eco- aquaticecosystemswill be able to continueto assimilateand conlogical and economic reasoning A similar proportionof farm- vert wastes Currentpractices in Thailandare not ecologically ers believed they could pursueshrimpaquaculturewith practices sustainable.We are concernedthat the consequences of such a transformationin the Mekong River Delta and along the coasts similarto what they were using for no longer than 10 years and majordeltas of the northwould be even more serious Assets, Entitlements, and Income Nevertheless,we acknowledgethat industrializationdoes not The industrializationof shrimp aquacultureaffects the liveli- inevitablylead down destructive,non-sustainablepathways,but hoods of variousgroupsof people Unfortunately,those who are can be harnessedto improve efficiencies, the profits to producmost disadvantagedby the changes wroughtby aquacultureare ers, and environmentalmanagementthroughstandardsand sharAmbio Vol 31 No 4, June2002 ? Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2002 http://www.ambio.kva.se This content downloaded from 185.2.32.185 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 20:27:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 321 ing of best practices Intensificationof shrimppond productionsystems reducesthe resilience of the larger ecosystem base upon which production dependsfor resistanceto disease, waterpollution,and otherchallenges Ultimately, it also threatens the sustainability of the shrimpaquacultureindustryas optionsto relocateoperationsand substitute resources from elsewhere decline because of rising costs and the regional scarcityof key input resources.This may not be a major concern for some of the larger corporateinterests, as they have the capacity, given time, to shift the focus of their factories or retail outlets to other commodities and products The industrializationof shrimpaquaculturehas been driven by the strategiesof largecorporationsto maximizeprofitsat various points along the commodity chain They have had a willing and growing marketof wealthy consumersto supply They have had the governmentsof developing countries,strappedfor cash and desperatelyneeding foreign exchange, more than willing to sacrifice "uncounted"naturalresourcesand ecosystem services They have been able to take advantageof a largesupplyof smallscale producersdesperatefor opportunitiesto lift their incomes Some producershave succeeded and others have failed, but the overall machinehas marchedon, oblivious to the cumulativeeffects on ecosystem conditions Cumulativeenvironmentaldegradationis an underratedissue in the debate on shrimpaquaculture.Three examples are: i) the progressivedeteriorationin waterqualitysources for ponds, and accumulation of nutrients in coastal sediments, as a result of wastewater and pond sediment; ii) the progressive removal of coastal mangrove strips, which when too small no longer provide effective protectionagainst coastal storm surges (50); and iii) the diminishingnaturalstock of gravid females with which to supply hatcheriesand, in the future,complete cycle systems At the landscape scale there appearsto be a critical threshold At very low densities of farms, disease and waterproblems are rare even when physical infrastructureand institutions for sharedresourcesare limited However, as the landscapeis filled with shrimpponds a thresholdis eventuallyreachedafterwhich the remainingnaturalhabitatno longer can cope with nutrient inputs Water quality startsto decline rapidly, and the risks of disease increase quickly Moreover, as environmentalquality deterioratesdue to the accumulationof pollutants,the need to use chemicals to pre-treatwater and guard against disease outbreaks increases in a positive feedback that ends when the system is no longer profitable.Industrializationpushes landscapes nearersuch thresholds Barriers to a Transformation An industrialtransformationthatwould supportthe development of a sustainableaquacultureindustryin Vietnam and Thailand has not yet begun, for a couple of key reasons First, effective institutionsthat could guide this transformationalong sustainable trajectorieshave not matchedthe rapidand large-scale development of the industryin Thailand.In Vietnam,centralplanning has been active in setting productiongoals, but local authorities are left with the challenge of implementingthem and attemptingto control land-use without adequateresources Vietnam is in the early stages of environmentalregulationsystems and policies (51), and there is not much of an environmentalsocial movement to push for such changes In both countries,resource management planning and institutions have worked at cross-purposes.Aquacultureproductionfalls underthe responsibility of one ministry, whereas land and water resources are handled by other ministries In the absence of good coordination and analysis of cross-sectoraleffects and needs, the results are contradictorypolicies and inconsistentimplementation.Second, the emphasis on technological solutions, while promising to decreasethe dependenceon local aquaticecosystems such as mangroves to provide services to clean water and so on, tends 322 to rely on higher levels of external inputs These include various chemical agents and requireextra resourcesprocuredfrom elsewhere, such as fossil fuels or fish for feed Also, these solutions often are not enforceable or adoptedbecause not enough attentionhas been paid to constraintson access to the technologies These arise because of the poor state of knowledge systems, and limited or preferentialaccess to resources like credit permits and land Finally, most research and development is geared to solutions that rarelygo beyond tinkeringwith current productionsystems, whereas sustainablesolutions will require much more radicalchanges, such as revisitingpoly-culturesystems with reduced input costs, and finding more efficient ways of organizingbusiness and information.This is why an approach that emphasizes the full commodity chain and supply network, or life cycle, from gravid female to the shrimpin the cocktail, is appropriate(Fig 4) Third, because the commodity chain and supply network is long, most consumersstill have little idea aboutthe consequences of theirconsumptionbehavior.Even producersdependon a supply chainthatis remotefromtheirpond The feedbackloops and opportunitiesfor learningavailableto a farmer-harvesterin his extensive polyculture system simply not exist in the industrializedversion Finally a transformationwill be difficult during the current time of fast growth in the industry because political, market, labor, and consumer forces all are pushing the industryto the limits of intensificationand expandedproduction.Moreover,the bigger players now have substantialinvestments in infrastructure that they would not willingly abandonor re-direct.Thus, it probablywill take a majorecological disaster,a very seriousdisease outbreak,or a health scare from eating farm-raisedshrimp before a majorchange in the way business is done can take hold in the industry.This makes researchand developmentof alternatives importantnow, because what options are availablewhen the crisis arrives can have a big effect on the way the system will evolve At the beginning of this paper we posed the question: How can the industrialtransformationof shrimp aquaculturebe directedin ways that are more ecologically, economically,and socially sustainable? Our comparisonsof the developmentand currentstate of the shrimpaquacultureindustryin differentregions of Thailandand Vietnamlead us to concludethatfacilitatinglocal innovationand adaptation,and more genericinstitutional,social, organizational, and educationalchanges, are important Given the great variationin currentland-use and aquaculture practicesamong regions; availabilityand cost of land and clean water; the state of, and threatsto, supportingecosystems; and culturalfactors,the most appropriatetrajectoryfor the industry will vary from place to place Thus, in Ca Mau, with complex internalwaterways and large areas of mangroves, extensive or seminaturalfarmingsystems are feasible, whereas such options no longer exist in most parts of easternpeninsularThailandor centralVietnam Shrimp aquacultureshould be seen as an optional part of a communitydevelopmentstrategy.In both Vietnamand Thailand most policy-making regardingthe developmentof aquaculture has been highly centralized,driven by corporateinterests, and insensitive to differences in social and ecological contexts As a consequence it has been ineffective in guiding environmental practices of shrimp farmersor associated industries.Local institutions have great potential to help improve collective decisions regardi1ng water, land and coastal resource use, but they will struggle to so without the resources and recognition of an accountablestateand cooperationwith the privatesector.This will requireflexibilityin policy instruments,implementation,and even the way goals are stated,that is not typical of centralgovernmentsin Thailandor Vietnam (? Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2002 http://www.ambio.kva.se This content downloaded from 185.2.32.185 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 20:27:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Ambio Vol 31 No 4, June2002 CONCLUSION Our analyses suggest that currentpathways are unlikely to lead to a sustainable industry In the short term, improvements in managementcan help reduce environmentaldamage,and structuralchanges to improve access to knowledge, credit,and other resources for the poor could help glean some of the potential social developmentbenefits In the longer term, or next couple of decades, however, nothing short of a complete transforma- tion in the way shrimp are grown, fed, processed, distributed, and consumedis needed This would changethe way profitsand costs are shared,and have to be guided by new institutionsand environmentallyawareconsumptiondemandsthatprovidea better mix of incentives for good environmentalpracticesby industry In some favorablelocations this will imply de-intensifying production,whereas in many other places, the solution will be finding alternativesto growing and eating shrimp References and Notes Lebel, L 2001 The industrialtransformationof SoutheastAsia Asia EcoBest 3, 5-6 Greenleaf, S., Vellinga, P and Herb, N 1999 IndustrialTransformationProject:Science Plan In: Asia's Clean Revolution: Industry,Growth and the Environment.Angel, D.P and Rock, M.T (eds) 2000 IHDP ReportNo 12 IntemationalHumanDimensions Programmeon Global EnvironmentalChange:Bonn Lin, C.K 1989 Prawnculturein Taiwan What went wrong WorldAquacult.20, 1920 Coastal Resources Institute 1991 Coastal Managementin Pak Phanang: A Historical Perspectiveof the Resourcesand Issues CoastalResourcesInstitute,Princeof Songkla University,Thailand Goss, J., Burch, D and Rickson, R.E 2000 Agri-food restructuringand ThirdWorld Transnationals:Thailand,the CP Groupand the global shrimpindustry WorldDevel 28, 513-530 ADB/Ministry of Fisheries 1996 Coastal AquacultureSector Review Final Report TA No 23-82 VIE: CoastalAquacultureDevelopment Study, 4-33 Huy, L.Q., Ninh, N.H and Kelly, M 2001 Migration,Resilience and Global Change in the Coastal Zone Paperpresentedat the Global Change and SustainableDevelopment in SoutheastAsia Regional Conference.ChiangMai, 17-19 February2001 GeneralStatisticalOffice 2000 Statistics2000 Hanoi: Vietnam (In Vietnamese) Peterson,H.C and Schweikhardt,D.B 1997 Agribusinessresponses to the changing agri-foodsystem In: Proc InternationalSeminaron DevelopmentofAgribusiness and Its Impact on AgriculturalProduction in Southeast Asia (DABIA),11-16 November 1996, Tokyo.Tokyo University of Agriculture,Japan,pp 201-214 10 Interview with Masahiko Hotta, Managerof Alter Trade Inc., Asia-Pacific Resource Center, Tokyo, Japan,5 September2001 See www.altertrade.cojpfor furtherinformation on business 11 Ling, B.H., Leung, P.S and Shang, Y.C 1999 ComparingAsian shrimpfarming:the domestic resourcecost approach.Aquaculture175, 31-48 12 A more detailed 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Middlesex pp 5-37 49 Chambers,R and Conway, G 1992 SustainableRural Livelihoods: Practical Conceptsfor the 21s' Century.IDS Discussion Paper 296 Instituteof Development Studies, Brighton 50 Tri, N.H., Adger, W.N and Kelly, P.M 1998 Naturalresourcemanagementin mitigating climate impacts: the example of mangrove restoration in Vietnam Global Environ.Change 8, 49-61 51 Firjns, J., Phuong, P.Y and Mol, A.P.J 2000 Ecological modemization theory and industrialisingeconomies: the case of Vietnam.Environ.Politics 9, 158-169 52 This research was primarily supported by Grant No 60176 from the John D and CatherineT MacArthurFoundationto Louis Lebel, ChiangMai University Louis Lebel is science coordinator for the international global environmental change program STARTin the Southeast Asia Region and an independent researcher affiliated with Chiang MaiUniversity He is an ecologist by training, interested in sustainable development at multiple scales, and currently is working on empirical and theoretical research related to resilience and natural resource management in upland forests and coastal aquatic systems in Southeast Asia His address: Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang MaiUniversity, Chiang Mai50200, Thailand E-mail:llebel@loxinfo.co.th Nguyen Hoang Triand Le KimThoa Mangrove Ecosystem Research Division, Centre for NaturalResources and EnvironmentalStudies, Vietnam National University, Ngo 115, Nguyen Khuyen, Hanoi, Vietnam Amnuay Saengnoree and Urasa Buatama Faculty of AgriculturalTechnology, King Mongkut's Institute of Technology LadkrabangChalongkrung Rd., Bangkok 10520, Thailand Suparb Pasong Institute of LiberalArts and Institute of Industrialand Resource Technology, WalailakUniversity, Tha Sala, Nakhon-sri-tammarat80160, Thailand D Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences 2002 http://www.ambio.kva.se This content downloaded from 185.2.32.185 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 20:27:29 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 323 ... Saengnoree, Suparb Pasong, Urasa Buatama and Le Kim Thoa Transformation Industrial Aquaculture and Shrimp in Thailand Vietnam: and to Ecological, Pathways Economic and Social, nabiIity? Sustai E I... developmentand currentstate of the shrimpaquacultureindustryin differentregions of Thailandand Vietnamlead us to concludethatfacilitatinglocal innovationand adaptation ,and more genericinstitutional ,social,. .. view of shrimpfarmers in Thailandof the state's role in aquaculturedevelopmentis very negative,with 83 %in westernpeninsularThailandand 88% in easternpeninsularThailandstatingthatpast supportfromgovernmentwas